Especially in the middle of bowl season, a college football legend can only be so many places.
Alabama coach Nick Saban chose to be in the living room of a Christ School senior on Thursday.
Coach Saban and two of his assistants made an in-home visit to Crimson Tide recruit Cayden Jones ’24 in Asheville. Along with members of Cayden’s family, Greenies head coach Chad Walker and assistant George Johnson were present Thursday, as was alumnus Andrew Graham ’21.
Everyone met for about 45 minutes before Coach Saban and his staff had to get to the Asheville Regional Airport for their next stop. The Crimson Tide is just over two weeks away from its New Year's Day Rose Bowl game with Michigan.
January will be noteworthy for Cayden as well. He is scheduled to play linebacker in the nationally-televised Under Armour Next All-American Game on Jan. 3 in Orlando, then enroll early at Alabama later that month.
Cayden has attended Christ School since the eighth grade and was a three-time all-state and three-time all-conference player with 283 career tackles. To top it all off, he was the 2023 Western Football Conference Athlete of the Year.
In his Senior Speech on Dec. 5, Cayden expressed his appreciation for his time as a Greenie.
“Setting realistic and meaningful goals, breaking them down into achievable steps, and being adaptable to change, are all important to goal-setting success,” Cayden said. “I’m blessed to have been able to attend Christ School which has made my personal goals much more attainable.”